2 Two becomes Three

It was an unlikely trio. A rail-thin lad with bare feet and a shock of shaggy black hair, a teen-sized girl with eight brown furred legs, and QJ.

"I dunno about this," Jacob frowned at the younger boy. Talon's stable hand ran into Angel and QJ by happenstance before QJ logged out a few days earlier. At twelve, he was the oldest of the group, but he was more than willing to follow them around.

"It's just a bag of corn," Angel busied herself by strapping their makeshift jet-pack onto the bag of feed. "You should be happy since you'll be doing the human trials."

Jacob's skinny face paled noticeably. "Mo will notice if I don't bring the feed back."

Angel muscled the bag of feed onto an old wooden chair that they salvaged. "I think we are ready!"

QJ slid the control glove over his hand and confidently made a fist. The jetpack sputtered once and then started up with a sickly cough that caused it to lurch out of the chair.

"It works! The clock is running." Angel clapped her hands excitedly. She knew the basics of jetpack flying. They decided that twenty seconds was long enough for the first test.

QJ waited patiently while Angel monitored the HUD and Jacob hid behind a nearby rock. After getting the signal, QJ grinned at his partners and opened his gloved hand to shut the jetpack down. "I'd call that a successfu…"

Instead of shutting down, flames flared out of the exhaust manifold, causing QJ and Angel to dive for cover. The sudden increase in thrust caused the jetpack to shoot skyward, an instant later fire engulfed the clear blue sky of Ravenwood as their experiment blew to bits in a fiery explosion.

QJ spit dirt out of his mouth and dusted off his pants while climbing to his feet. "Was that loud?"

Jacob's mouth hung open, his panicked face seemed frozen as he watched small bits of white fall gently down toward the ground. Both of his ears were ringing. "Is it snowing?"

QJ grabbed one of the pieces of white fluff and popped it into his mouth like any five-year-old would do. "Popcorn!"

Angel snatched a few pieces as it continued to rain down on them. "Needs butter," she muttered after sampling it. "What happened?"

QJ had taken off, quickly picking up every component he could find. "That flare-up shouldn't have happened… Jetpacks use a gel fuel that is regulated through a control valve, let's go over the notes again."

Angel nodded, pausing long enough to throw an arm around Jacob's shoulders. "I'll tell Quinn to cover for us with the feed."

Jacob grinned suddenly, Quinn could always be counted on. "Thank you."

[A short while later.]

Angel cleared her throat. "I think I see the problem."

The small group was huddled in a small tent that they had 'borrowed' from the Silverleaf women. Under ordinary circumstances, the 3x5 meter tent would have been more than spacious enough for a makeshift hideout. However, in this instance, the floor was covered in spare parts, forcing the occupants to walk along the edges.

QJ glanced up from his scribbled notes, his sharp eyes immediately focused on the contents of Angel's hands. "You have two control valves."

Angel's pretty face offered him an apologetic smile. The valve was supposed to slide directly into the fuel line, in front of a simple sleeved bushing. She had worked on the fuel line while QJ assembled the main components. "We had two bushings and two valves, now we only have two valves." She had obviously installed both bushings by mistake.

QJ held his hand out and relieved her of one of the valves. "No worries, every failure adds to our knowledge." He grabbed a small hammer and tap. "I can remove this valve so we can reuse it in place of the bushing spacer."

Angel smiled at him, QJ had his mother's patience. It had been less than a week and they were already testing out the jetpack. "Do we need more spare parts? I can check Remmy's workshop."

QJ nodded. "I can build one more with the parts we have, but it will be nice to have enough for a spare."

"Jake…" Angel measured the youth with warm green eyes. "We sent you to scout out the enemy. What did you discover?"

Jacob's face reddened to a near-tomato color. "Well… There are eight of them, the group that accesses the peach orchard is headed up by Ru."

"Ru…" Angel said the name, her beautiful face scowling. "I should have known she'd be the ringleader. Anything else?"

Jacob looked at the ground and scuffed the ground with his bare feet. "T-They bath in the river!"

QJ glanced up. "They do?"

Angel narrowed her eyes. "Is this confirmed? Or are you guessing?"

C-confirmed," Jacob stated. "Every night at sundown!"

Angel smiled suddenly before reaching into her pocket for an item. "Take this, Jake."

Jake received a plain silver ring. "What's this for?"

[Camouflage]

Ring: Silver band.

Effect: Hide in plain view.

Detection rating: (1)

Angel handed the second ring to QJ.

[You've been invited into a group by Angel.]

QJ used his free hand to click the accept icon that popped up on his hud. "Why are we grouping?"

[Spider: Angel] This way we won't be overheard by our targets.

[Spider: QJ] That's good thinking.

[Spider: Angel] Let's look at the map.

The three conspirators huddled around QJ's HUD. Jake traced the curve of the river on the map they had pulled up.

"Where the river bends sharply, there's a large tree where they tied a rope." Jake pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes with one hand. "They pile their clothes on the flat rock a few meters away."

"Very detailed," Angel complimented. Do they post a guard on the clothes?"

Jake shook his head. "Nope."

[Spider: Angel] Are you sure? Maybe they skipped the day you scouted them.

[Spider: Jacob] I-I scouted them the last three days!

[Spider: Angel] The Spider Queen admires your dedication to the cause. Both of you hold your arms out while I put some webbing on you.

QJ waited patiently while Angel wrapped a few strands of webbing around Jake's waist. He knew from experience that it was quite sticky and difficult to break. Double strands could easily hold his weight. After finishing she stepped away to admire her handiwork.

[Spider: Angel] Looks good. Slip your rings on and we'll move into position.

Angel has cast [Ba'Avriel.]

The Spider Queen instantly morphed into her Winged Assassin form. She gripped the loose strands with both hands and shot into the air.

[Spider: Jacob] Holy… Warn us next time!

[Spider: Angel] Operatives have to be ready at all times.

[Spider: Jacob] I was ready! Just warn me first.

[Spider: Angel] Your objection is noted.

QJ grinned at Jacob who was closing his eyes. Unlike the stable hand, QJ enjoyed having Angel transport them.

[Spider: QJ] We still have an hour before sundown. We should post a lookout and scout the surroundings.

[Spider: Angel] I'll use my thermal vision to keep watch while the two of you search for clues.

The landing was a bit rougher than necessary, despite her spider strength, while in Ba'Avriel form she wasn't nearly as strong. She dropped them both on the bank of the river and then landed nearby.

[Spider: Angel] Next time I'll make two trips, the long flight was harder than I anticipated.

[Spider: QJ] I'll take the east side of the clearing.

[Spider: Jacob] Which side is east?

[Spider: QJ] The side I'm not on…

Within a few minutes, QJ found some curious items hidden at the base of some bushes. A large number of clay jugs were stacked neatly and covered with branches. Burrowing further into the dense brush, he discovered two brass pressure cookers connected by copper tubing.

[Spider: QJ] Found something.

He left the discovery unmolested since he didn't want to leave any trace of his presence. Within a few moments, both Angel and Jake had joined him.

[Spider: Jacob] What's that?

[Spider: Angel] They are cooking in secret?

QJ picked up one of the jugs and removed the cork stopper that it had been sealed with. Instantly his nose was flooded with the sweet scent of peaches.

[Spider: QJ] Gonna take a screenshot and research this further.

[Spider: Angel] Do you know how to take a screenshot?

[Spider: QJ] Think so.

[Spider: Angel] We'll take one of those jugs too. They won't miss it if we remove it from the bottom.

The Spider Queen stayed on watch while Jake and QJ replaced the branches and brushed away any signs of their presence.

[Spider: Angel] We have company. Ru and her followers are approaching from the north.

[Spider: Jacob] Which way is north?

[Spider: QJ] They are taking the path through the hills.

[Spider: Angel] Everyone take cover.